Sure, the New England Patriots and Deflategate might be all the rage, but Phil Jackson was all over the trend two decades ago when his New York Knicks employed the same tactic.
Quoted in the Bangor Daily News, Jackson stated the Knicks would deflate balls to better help their team. But how did this help exactly considering both teams were using the same ball, unlike the Patriots who had their own set of footballs?
Well, according to Phil Jackson, they lacked size so the under-inflated basketballs helped their shorter players grab rebounds.
Phil Jackson, quoted in 1986, saying that championship New York Knicks teams intentionally deflated basketballs: pic.twitter.com/wJqAnC6fRQ
— Todd Radom (@ToddRadom) January 28, 2015
It’s actually a pretty interesting read and speaks to the gamesmanship that has long been employed during professional sports. Unfortunately for the New England Patriots, whomever deflated their footballs was “caught” because there’s a damn good chance this was taking place in another NFL city.
Considering the quote is nearly 20-years old, it would be nice to hear from Phil Jackson or any other members of the New York Knicks from that time to give a better insight in to what actually happened, especially given the current fascination with such.
For what it’s worth, the Knicks won 23 games in 1986.
Perhaps Carmelo Anthony and company might want to try this tactic out now considering they could use any help they could get.
